After a fourth week of practice, Crabtree did not appear on the 49ers injury report for Sunday's home game against the St. Louis Rams. That further clears the way for his comeback from a May 21 tear of his right Achilles.

Harbaugh said Crabtree's looked good in practice and will be expected to "contribute to the football team by any means necessary."

Here is what Crabtree shared with the media at his locker Friday:

Did you learn anything from being on the sideline and watching the game?

"Yeah, it's always good to be around the game, even though I can't play. I'm learning every day, always in a quarterbacks' ears and receivers' ears.

Did you pick up anything from Anquan (Boldin)?

"Oh yeah, I'm learning from everybody. Anquan, he's an older cat, been in the league for a while. I'd be a fool not to steal something from him. We're just out there practicing and getting ready to play. I'm really ready to play. It's a long time coming."

What can we expect from a Boldin/Crabtree combination?

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"Just football. I don't want to hype anything up. I just want to go play ball like I do every Sunday, when I'm out there. It's going to be good to be out there with everybody, back out there with my offensive line, they are some of my favorite guys. The D-line, Cowboy and some of them. It's really going to be great with Anquan, though, somebody you looked up to when you were younger. Now I get to play beside him. Last year I had Randy Moss. This year it's Anquan. Every year they're giving me somebody."

Was this the best-case scenario after the injury on when you could get back, with the team in the thick of it for the stretch run?

"Best-case scenario? I wasn't really thinking about scenarios. I was thinking about just me getting right. Everything happened for a reason. I guess it's time for me to go. I feel comfortable enough to go out there and play, go out there and see what I can do."

How did it feel in practice this week?

"I felt great, I felt real good. They did a good job putting me in there, just letting me spin and do my thing. For the most part, I had fun."

How do you assess what the team will need with five games to go, what they need from you and everybody else?

"We just need to win. Everybody is going to have to bring it. Bring your all. It's going to take everybody, not just me. Everybody as a whole. Offense, defense, special teams. We know where we left off from last year and we're trying to get back there. It's going to take us winning one game at a time."

What was the biggest thing you had to overcome in your own mind these past four weeks back on the practice field?

"Really just going out there. Not overcoming nothing. Just going out there and how you feel, see how much pain you get out of your foot the more your running. It wasn't stressful. It was just a day to day thing.

Was this your first week of three practices?

"No, last week I did three. Half a day counts as a whole for me."

Was there soreness?

"That was two weeks ago. We tried that to see how my foot responded to going a full day of practice. No setbacks. We're here now."

When you watched yourself on film from practice, did you look like your old self?

"Yeah, for the most part, it did. That's what made me feel comfortable. Just practicing every day, feeling the ground with my foot and getting ready to play."

Did you compare notes with Kobe Bryant during your respective Achilles comebacks?

"When I first ran into Kobe, neither of us was hurt then. It was the All-Star week. He had his in April and I was right after in May."